Napping and Affection
by bmo-galaxy
Summary: It's the perfect afternoon for napping and reading. *nonbinary!Gowther
It was a warm spring day. A cool breeze fluttered through the leaves and grass, bringing with it the sweet smell of flowers. In King's opinion, the perfect day to nap outside. Floating sleepily through the Boar's Hat, he bee-lined through the room toward the goat sin. Gowther was sitting at the end of the bar, several books stacked around them. Glasses resting at the end of their nose, golden eyes scanned quickly over the page. Laying atop Chastiefol, chin resting on his folded arms, King hovered next to the lust sin's shoulder. With a quiet hum in the back of his throat, Harlequin reached out a small hand to tug on the goat's sleeve.

Gold eyes paused in their reading to glance sideways, taking in the image of a sleepy fairy king. Closing their book gently and adding it back to the stack, Gowther turned to face the fairy. Adjusting their glasses carefully, neutral eyes stared at the king expectantly.

"Is there something you wanted, King?" Their tone was it's usual monotone. Though, if King looked closely enough, he could see the dim curiosity in the goat sin's eyes.

With an impatient grunt, King gave another sharp tug of the striped sleeve. Gowther let out a hum of amusement, reaching their hand to touch King's small fist. Long fingers slid over smooth fairy skin, slowly moving up the grizzly sin's thin wrist. The fairy took the opportunity to flip his hand over and grip Gowther tightly.

"Nap," he said shortly, giving another pull. Gowther gave a rare grin.

"I am not tired, King. I do not need to nap."

King whined in the back of his throat, pressing his face into Chastiefol. "Just sit with me then. You can read," King offered, soft voice muffled by the cushion. Gowther tilted their head in consideration. Gold eyes peered out the windows, taking in the bright blue sky and shining sun.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Gowther agreed. They promptly stood up, silently amused by the fact that the fairy king didn't let go of their hand. After grabbing their book with their free hand, the goat sin gave a ready nod and allowed King to lead the way outside. The warm sunlight felt good on the pink haired sin's skin and they hummed quietly in appreciation.

King lead them slowly toward a tall oak tree. Once there, he released Gowther's hand and flipped over on his faithful cushion, slowly lowered himself onto the ground at the base of the tree. He impatiently patted the space next to him, scooting over to allow room on Chastiefol for Gowther to lounge as well. The gold eyed sin carefully seated themself next to the grizzly sin, allowing the smaller boy to curl under their arm. The fairy shuffled for a moment to get comfortable. With his head on Gowther's shoulder and his arm thrown over a thin waist, King sighed happily and closed his eyes. Gowther watched all of this, taking in King's sleepy, content expression. The slight curl of his lips and long lashes against pale cheeks. They noted King's heartbeat calming, beating low and steady. By all accounts, the fairy king was very comfortable. And happy.

A strange rush of affection filled the sin of lust, surprising them. They tried to pinpoint what had happened to make them feel such a strong emotion. Eventually, they reasoned that it wasn't one moment, but all of them. Content with that reasoning, Gowther relaxed against Chastiefol. Wrapping a long arm around King's waist, they flipped to the page where they'd stopped. It was quiet as they read silently and Gowther found that they liked the feeling of King's soft breath brushing against their collarbone. It made the skin warm in a way that the sun never could.

"Read to me."

King's quiet demand caught the goat sin off guard. They glanced down at their companion, adjusting their glasses so that the spectacles didn't fall off their nose.

"I am not sure that King would have any interest in the material that I'm reading," they stated in a flat, matter of fact tone. By all accounts, it should be true; they were currently reading about human development of individuality and self. They thought that by knowing how humans developed socially, the feelings that they experienced would make more sense. Though, gazing down at the crown of King's head, they thought that they were starting to get a slight understanding of some human emotions. They couldn't deny the warm content gathered in their chest.

"I don't care," King murmured, breath tickling the goat sin's chest. Gowther gave a barely discernible shutter that crawled up their spine quickly, leaving the sin tingling. "I want to hear your voice."

When Gowther tipped their head to the side, they caught sight of the blushing burning across King's cheeks. It spread over the bridge of his nose and extended up into his ears.

"You are embarrassed now. Is something wrong?"

King pressed his cheek harder against Gowther's chest, curling tighter against them. "No. I just like this." His voice was small and threaded with quiet embarrassment. There was a certainty in that voice though, steady and strong. Gowther hummed quietly. There was a new sensation in their chest, a fluttery feeling inside their lungs, against their heart. After a moment of analyzing it, Gowther determined that this must be relief. Or maybe excitement. It was a pleasant feeling and the pink haired sin determined that it was due to King's soft words.

Turning gold eyes back to their book, Gowther smiled a small, soft smile. "Alright, I will read until you are ready to go inside."

King hummed in assent, letting himself get lost in Gowther's voice. Most would say that it was a flat monotone, conveying no emotion. King had spent enough time with them now to detect the small changes in pitch and tone, letting the fairy know what they were feeling as they read. It was subtle, impossible to hear if you weren't looking for it, but it was definitely _there._

Feeling a strong rush of something between appreciation, affection, and love, the fairy turned his head slightly to press soft kisses against the goat sin's collarbone. Gowther's voice momentarily wavered as they read, but they finished the sentence softly before looking down at the king. The fluttering was back, racketing around in their rib cage.

"I find that I enjoy this activity," they murmured, voice soft with affection. It was a strange emotion, intense and soft all in the same breath. It was completely new and foreign to the goat sin, but not at all unpleasant. Wanting to know if the feeling could get stronger, they move thin hands to wrap around King's waist. With a strong pull, the sin's faces were aligned, an inch apart. King gasped at the movement, his breath whispering against Gowther's cheek. Strange, the fluttering had gotten stronger at this shift. Caught up in the sensation, they inched their face closer to King's. Gold eyes stared hard at King, taking in every shift in expression or breath pattern. They noted the increase in the fairy's heart rate, the way the blush spread toward his collar. Shaky, stuttered breaths blew over Gowther's lips.

"I want to kiss you, King," they stated bluntly, enjoying the soft gasp against their mouth. They watched intently as King swallowed, eyes sliding away to stare down at their chests.

"Okay." The reply was soft, almost shy, but all that Gowther needed. Moving a hand to tip the fairy's chin up, the goat sin wasted no time in pressing their lips to the fairy's. They noted the minute hesitation in King's movements, the stiffening of his back and grip of his fists. The fairy king relaxed quickly, though, humming into the kiss. Gowther pulled away long enough to say, "I enjoyed that feeling," before their lips were pressed together again.

When they pulled away, King was panting gently. He pressed his face into the crook of Gowther's neck, shaking slightly. Gowther rubbed a hand down the king's back, something they had read in a book to calm a person down. To their delight, the action worked. The stiffness melted from King's form and he settled after a moment.

"I enjoyed that, King. You taste rather sweet, like honey," Gowther stated and King could hear the quiet affection there. He hid his wide grin against the pink sin's neck, though the goat could feel it against their skin. They were interested to notice that they enjoyed this activity. Holding King was nice, his weight and warmth oddly reassuring and calming. Long arms tightened around the fairy king and on impulse, the goat sin pressed a kiss against King's temple. They were pleased to receive a chuckle in return.

"Well, I enjoyed it too," King mumbled, pulling away from the goat sin's neck to grin up at them. _Ah, the fluttering had returned._ Gowther shifted to adjust their glasses and stared evenly down at King. The grizzly sin must had seen something that made him happy, because the grin grew into a full blown smile. The blush across his cheeks, which had faded some, was bright again, glowing on his skin. He didn't speak, though, as he adjusted to lay against Gowther again. He sat higher up this time, pressed pressed against the top of their shoulder, forehead touching their neck.

Gowther continued to stare King. They studied the way that King's heartbeat slowly calmed into a soft, steady beat. Gentle, even breath that whispered along the skin of their throat. Tiny hands splayed across their chest, thumb idly running along their collarbone. The affection was burning in their chest now, intense and hot and near all consuming. It was fascinating, to say the least. To think that they were capable of feeling such strong emotions, like a human must feel them. It was calming, reassuring, to be able to feel this way.

Resuming their reading, the two spent the rest of the afternoon curled together. Gowther's soft voice floated along with the breeze, easing King into a light nap. He dozed for hours as the sun moved through the sky, slowly setting behind the rolling hills. Gowther only stopped when it became too dark to read. They set the book aside and gently prodded the fairy king against them. King grumbled under his breath, protesting Gowther's prodding.

"It has become dark, King. We should return to the tavern and eat dinner. We will be opening soon."

King groaned quietly at that, pressing his face hard into Gowther's neck. Small arms moved to wrap around the goat sin, hugging them tightly. "Comfortable," he mumbled groggily. Gowther tipped their head at the complaint.

"It truly amazes me that you remain tired after sleeping all day." The comment was gentle and it set butterflies through King's stomach. Sighing dramatically, all complaints disappearing in a whirlwind of little wings, King reluctantly pulled away from his companion. He sported a childish pout as he floated away from Chastiefol. As soon as Gowther stood to their feet, the cushion floated to King dutifully. Curling in a ball to grip the pillow to his chest, King started to glide toward the bar. Gowther watched his small back as he moved away. They spoke before they had a chance to think about it.

"We should do this activity again, King. I found that I quite enjoyed it," they blurted. After a moment to think, they added, "Especially the kissing."

King turned, blush again present on his cheeks and ears. Flustered, he stuttered for words. "I-I liked it too. We should do it again," he agreed, voice filled with something _warm_ that Gowther couldn't identify. Storing the information for later analyse, the goat sin walked toward their partner. Reaching out a long arm, they offered their hand to King. Still blushing, and pointedly looking away, the fairy king slid his small hand into Gowther's.

The pair walked like that, hand in hand, back into the tavern a few minutes later. Not before kissing briefly outside the door, Gowther pulling King down from Chastiefol to press a firm kiss against the fairy king's mouth. Gowther again noted the increase in heart rate and noticed that their's rose as well.

If the other members of their rag tag group noticed, none of them said anything. The other sins just smiled privately to themselves, though Ban swore quietly before handing a few folded bills over to a smug Meliodas.


End file.
